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Steudle GA, Schietinger S, Höckel D, Dorenbos SN, Zadeh IE, Zwiller V, et al. Measuring the quantum nature of light with a single source and a single detector. Phys. Rev. A. 2012;86(5):053814.
Abstract: An elementary experiment in optics consists of a light source and a detector. Yet, if the source generates nonclassical correlations such an experiment is capable of unambiguously demonstrating the quantum nature of light. We realized such an experiment with a defect center in diamond and a superconducting detector. Previous experiments relied on more complex setups, such as the Hanbury Brown and Twiss configuration, where a beam splitter directs light to two photodetectors, creating the false impression that the beam splitter is a fundamentally required element. As an additional benefit, our results provide a simplification of the widely used photon-correlation techniques.
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Korneeva YP, Mikhailov MY, Pershin YP, Manova NN, Divochiy AV, Vakhtomin YB, et al. Superconducting single-photon detector made of MoSi film. Supercond Sci Technol. 2014;27(9):095012.
Abstract: We fabricated and characterized nanowire superconducting single-photon detectors made of 4 nm thick amorphous Mox Si1−x films. At 1.7 K the best devices exhibit a detection efficiency (DE) up to 18% at 1.2 $\mu {\rm m}$ wavelength of unpolarized light, a characteristic response time of about 6 ns and timing jitter of 120 ps. The DE was studied in wavelength range from 650 nm to 2500 nm. At wavelengths below 1200 nm these detectors reach their maximum DE limited by photon absorption in the thin MoSi film.
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Korneev A, Minaeva O, Rubtsova I, Milostnaya I, Chulkova G, Voronov B, et al. Superconducting single-photon ultrathin NbN film detector. Quantum Electronics. 2005;35(8):698–700.
Abstract: Superconducting single-photon ultrathin NbN film detectors are studied. The development of manufacturing technology of detectors and the reduction of their operating temperature down to 2 K resulted in a considerable increase in their quantum efficiency, which reached in the visible region (at 0.56 μm) 30%—40%, i.e., achieved the limit determined by the absorption coefficient of the film. The quantum efficiency exponentially decreases with increasing wavelength, being equal to ~20% at 1.55 μm and ~0.02% at 5 μm. For the dark count rate of ~10-4s-1, the experimental equivalent noise power was 1.5×10-20 W Hz-1/2; it can be decreased in the future down to the record low value of 5×10-21 W Hz-1/2. The time resolution of the detector is 30 ps.
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Verevkin A, Zhang J, Sobolewski R, Lipatov A, Okunev O, Chulkova G, et al. Detection efficiency of large-active-area NbN single-photon superconducting detectors in the ultraviolet to near-infrared range. Appl. Phys. Lett.. 2002;80(25):4687–9.
Abstract: We report our studies on spectral sensitivity of meander-type, superconducting NbN thin-film single-photon detectors (SPDs), characterized by GHz counting rates of visible and near-infrared photons and negligible dark counts. Our SPDs exhibit experimentally determined quantum efficiencies ranging from ∼0.2% at the 1.55 μm wavelength to ∼70% at 0.4 μm. Spectral dependences of the detection efficiency (DE) at the 0.4 to 3.0-μm-wavelength range are presented. The exponential character of the DE dependence on wavelength, as well as its dependence versus bias current, is qualitatively explained in terms of superconducting fluctuations in our ultrathin, submicron-width superconducting stripes. The DE values of large-active-area NbN SPDs in the visible range are high enough for modern quantum communications.
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Driessen EFC, Braakman FR, Reiger EM, Dorenbos SN, Zwiller V, de Dood MJA. Impedance model for the polarization-dependent optical absorption of superconducting single-photon detectors. Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys.. 2009;47:10701.
Abstract: We measured the single-photon detection efficiency of NbN superconducting single-photon detectors as a function of the polarization state of the incident light for different wavelengths in the range from 488 nm to 1550 nm. The polarization contrast varies from ~% at 488 nm to~0% at 1550 nm, in good agreement with numerical calculations. We use an optical-impedance model to describe the absorption for polarization parallel to the wires of the detector. For the extremely lossy NbN material, the absorption can be kept constant by keeping the product of layer thickness and filling factor constant. As a consequence, the maximum possible absorption is independent of filling factor. By illuminating the detector through the substrate, an absorption efficiency of ~0% can be reached for a detector on Si or GaAs, without the need for an optical cavity.
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